A PRE-SECOND WORLD WAR painting by a Penzance artist that captures two Cornish tin miners about to head underground has sold at a prestigious London auction house for more than £40,000.

Tin Miners, a fine example of Harold Harvey's works depicting the industrial side of Cornwall, sold for £40,850 in the 19th century paintings sale at Bonhams in New Bond Street.

It was estimated to make £20,000 to £30,000.

Peter Rees, head of sale for the 19th century paintings department, said: "We are delighted with the result; Harvey was a prolific artist but this was a very impressive work, giving an interesting insight into the social history of west Cornwall."

Training

Harold Harvey lived from 1874 to 1941. He was born in Penzance and trained in painting at the Penzance Art School under Norman Garstin, before attending the Academie Julian in Paris from 1894 to 1896.

His works often depicted Cornish life and landscapes from his local community such as fishermen, farmers or simply families in their home interiors.

He first visited the theme of the industrial landscape of Cornwall in 1935 with St Just Tin Miners, now in the collection of the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro. The men in that have been identified as "authentic local characters" Sidney Angrove and Nicholas Grenfell and it is believed that he used the same sitters in Tin Miners.

Despite his critical success, Harvey rarely went to London and preferred to stay in his native Cornwall. He died in Newlyn two years after painting Tin Miners. A second work by Harvey called Portrait of Stella Mary Burdett, sold for £8,750.